Splinter of the Mind's Eye

This is STILL a cool book to read, even after thirty-five years! Written by Alan Dean Foster and planned as a low-budget sequel to Star Wars in the event the 1977 film tanked, Splinter of the Mind's Eye is the story of Luke, Leia, Artoo, and Threepio on their way to a rebel meeting and forced to crash on the swamp planet Mimban where in addition to an Imperial energy mine the heroes – roughly drawn compared to how we know them later in the movies, for this was the first Star Wars “Expanded Universe” novel – are helped to discover the Kaiburr Crystal, a device that can greatly magnify someone's ability to use the Force. And among the Imperials, guess who would be interested in using it … and when this novel came out we knew nothing about the Luke-Leia-Vader connection, but its foreshadowing is amazing!

My children can do better than that!

(though perhaps waking them early for

breakfast with me and “the Boys” was not

such a good idea) unlike nine lepers,

I'm still working on that poem I talked about yesterday … still not sure about the title, but essentially it's a vignette about this weekend, and I'm just writing it as I go. I DID wake Sarah and Jeffrey up early with me Saturday morning so we could go to Breakfast with the Boys (I can't leave them at home because Martha's working the six am to two pm shift at McDonald's on Saturday mornings in addition to Monday and Friday nights), and the “nine lepers” touches on the Gospel story of Jesus healing ten lepers and one coming back to thank Him – Luke 17:11-19 – which was the central text of Saturday's Bible study and Sunday sermon. I had the chance in the few minutes before I woke Sarah and Jeffrey to get ready for school (and they say they want to wake up EARLIER?) to review part of my story-poem nor long remember and walked away again with a chuckle.

I must believe they'll be grateful

I spent time with them, this day with

the children – oh I'll miss them!

I'll miss them, but I know my aim improves,

      if not my hearing

Sarah was telling me a story this morning about Georgia, the girl with red hair who was on fire … and on another note, I took advantage of the discounted oil change I had at Northwest Tire to get that done this morning (and drive our van, which I really don't brag about no matter how much Martha says I do) but after the scattered showers we've had and continue to have through this week – some people I hear sound terrible – I just barely got out of there in time for work because NW Tire had people out sick too! During her lunch break Martha was able to get the kids, so she told me, some awesome and well priced winter coats at one of our local thrift stores. What is it now, counting down from what someone told me Saturday at the Salvation Army this weekend … SEVENTY days to Christmas? (It's seventy-two, I counted … and like Rena, I am not happy with all the holiday decorations mashed together!)

(or did I really hear Citizen Link's

headline, “A bomb struck the Iraqi

city of Samarra” as instead,

“Obama struck”? TWICE?) I

KNOW what I believe, if

not always what to do …

Inspiration is hitting hard lately, David